The Nightlight
by xForeversEndx
Summary: Draco Malfoy, afraid of the dark? Draco has to stay at the Dursley's due to situations beyond his control, and Harry discovers a few things about the blonde he wouldn't have expected. And why doesn't Harry find them funny? He does hate the boy... right?
1. The Nightlight

Harry Potter was bored.

No. Harry Potter was not bored, because bored was an understatement.

Harry Potter was so bored he would quite quickly chew off his own legs, if it meant he would have something to do. The sixteen-year-old was dismally staring out the bedroom window of number four, Privet Drive on a dull, June afternoon, hoping half-heartedly that something, _anything_ interesting would happen on the street below.

He sighed to himself as his snowy owl, Hedwig, gave a soft hoot in an attempt to gain his attention, and pried his eyes away from the pavement. He glanced at the owl for a moment before determining the reason she had chosen to vocalise herself. The creature's water dish was dry, and Harry opened the cage briefly, removing the container.

The black haired boy hummed tunelessly to himself as he made his way down the hallway to the small bathroom, directly across the bedroom of his cousin, Dudley. He grimaced in disgust as he passed the door, hearing a distinct creaking noise originated from the other side of the wall.

Dudley had a girl over.

As Harry filled Hedwig's dish with clear liquid, he mused to himself. Who the bloody hell would ever bed a pig like Dudley? Well, obviously, the woman who was currently doing so, and perhaps Pansy Parkinson. But Harry doubted that even she would sink so low. Dudley had either paid the girl, or blackmailed her, he decided as he left the loo.

"Oh Dudley!" A girl moaned from the confines of the room and Harry blanched. Scratch that. This girl must be entirely insane.

Wandering back into his own room, Harry shut the door behind him and placed the water dish in the cage. Hedwig gave a soft hoot of thanks. He watched her for a moment before moving to his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Harry had never had much interest in girls, to be honest. And, were he to be honest with himself, there had been more than one bloke to catch his fancy. Harry had originally been perturbed by this, and had resolutely attempted to shag nearly every female above the fifth year before finally accepting his fate.

He was gay.

And he was quite fine with this fact by now.

Sighing once again, Harry closed his eyes. He hated summer. The Dursley's, though never particularly abusive were not a pleasure to be around. Said Dursley's, or at least, his aunt and uncle were currently not at home, and Harry was grateful for this.

However, he was still bored.

And Harry Potter would continue to be bored for the rest of eternity. Or so it seemed.

In fact, by the time something interesting finally did occur, the time in which Harry Potter lay bored upon his bed seemed to have happened an eternity before.

Such an interesting occurrence presented itself around four o'clock that afternoon, and did so in such a way that the previously bored teenager had never been expecting.

The doorbell rang, resonating through the pleasant home that Harry called a prison.

Uncle Dursely, who had returned home with his wife in the previous hour grumbled and groaned at the prospect of raising himself from his comfortable position in front of the telly and barked at Harry to answer the call.

Harry did so.

Standing at the door was a tall wizard, wearing elaborate purple robes adorned with silver stars, half moon spectacles, a pointed hat, and had a very crooked nose. Harry grinned.

Albus Dumbledore was standing upon his front stoop.

The grin faded however, as he set eyes on Dumbledore's compainion, standing rather shorter than he, with a head a white blonde hair, pale skin, and stormy grey eyes.

Albus Dumbledore was in fact accompanied by none other than Draco Malfoy, Harry's worst enemy, aside from You-Know-Who himself. Glaring, Harry further opened the door.

"What the hell are you doing here, Malfoy?" He sneered at the blonde, gazing past Dumbledore into his rival's eyes.

"Who's at the door, boy?" Vernon barked from the living room. "If they're selling anything, we're not interested."

"May we come in Harry?" Dumbledore asked politely, whilst at the same time stepping into the front hall without waiting for a reply. "Are you aunt and uncle home?" Harry nodded mutely, unable to understand why his headmaster and worst enemy were currently standing in his front hall.

"Sir, if I may ask, why are you here?" Dumbledore just looked gravely at him.

"I shall explain in a moment." Vernon chose this moment to waddle into the entryway, turning a brilliant shade of purple at the sight of the eccentric man in his house.

"You again. I shall not have you parading in here, uninvited." Dumbledore only smiled pleasantly as Dudley, who had come in behind his father, cautiously eyed Malfoy, who appeared equally as nervous.

"Ah, but I am not uninvited at all, good sir. I assure you, Harry here has very graciously welcomed me into your lovely home." Turning, if possible, an even darker shade of puce, Vernon gave Harry a menacing look. "However, who invited who is not of importance. I must speak with you and Petunia."

Dumbledore then took it upon himself to stride into the Dursley's living room, silencing the telly with a silent charm, and sat himself upon the sofa, waiting expectantly for the Dursley's to do the same.

They did so cautiously, knowing better than to no cooperate by now, and Harry was left to stand next to Malfoy, who seemed unable to believe he was in the current situation.

"Who's he?" Vernon grunted at Malfoy.

"That," Dumbledore answered patiently, "is Draco Malfoy, and he will need to stay here for the remainder of the summer." It was difficult to tell who was angrier about this, Harry, or the Dursely's.

"Sir, no! I don't want him here!" Harry protested as Malfoy started expressionlessly at wall and as Vernon growled,

"We ain't taking in another one of those... freaks into this house!" Petunia shook her head, seeming ready to faint. "Besides," He barked, "We don't got room for him." Ignoring Harry, the twinkle shown brightly as ever as Dumbledore responded his uncle.

"Ah, Vernon, but I understand you have a guest room?" Vernon growled in response. "The truth in the matter, my dear man, is that it is not safe for young Draco to be a home in the present situation, and there is nowhere else for him to go. I assure you, I would not be bothering you were it not completely urgent, but, alas, it is as such."

"I don't want him here." Harry said again, through clenched teeth. "We hate each other." The old man turned to acknowledge Harry at last.

"Yes, Harry, but you will have to manage. Draco does not have a home to go to and I expect you to be gracious of him." Harry in turn glared at Malfoy, who seemed to be lost in his own little world.

"You will take him." Dumbledore commanded to the Dursley's, leaving no room for complaint.

"Fine." Petunia said, speaking for the first time. Everyone turned to her in surprise. "We'll take him." Dumbledore nodded.

"Good." He said with a smile. "Then I must be off. Good day Harry."

And with that, he was gone.

This left Harry, Malfoy, and Dursely's in a particularly awkward position. Attempting to break the tension, Harry turned to Malfoy who was holding a bag that he had not noticed before. Sighing, he spoke.

"Come on, Malfoy, I'll show you the guest room." The other nodded once, the only sign he'd heard him.

Harry led the boy upstairs.

"The loo is across the hall." He stated shortly. "I'm at the end. We usually have dinner at 7. Otherwise, just stay out of my way." Malfoy nodded again.

"Is it okay if I have a shower?" Rather taken aback by Malfoy's lack of heat toward him, Harry nodded.

"Er, yeah. Do you want me to show you how to run it?" Harry took Malfoy's appearance in for the first time.

He did not look well.

Draco's usually pale skin was nearly translucent, and his grey eyes were weighed down with tired bags. His usually immaculate hair stood on end.

Draco Malfoy looked defeated.

"Yeah, thanks." He answered Harry's question quietly.

As Malfoy took a shower, Harry found himself on his bed, musing about the boy.

He wondered what had happed in order for him to have to stay here.

He wondered why Malfoy looked so horrible.

He wondered why he was being so quiet.

And, of course, Harry wanted what Draco looked like at this very moment.

This was one thought that Harry was having a particularly difficult time taking in.

Draco Malfoy, was in his house, naked, at this very moment. He blushed at the thought. Gay or not, he certainly should _not _be thinking of Draco Malfoy in such a way. And yet, the thoughts could not help but consume him.

He couldn't help but wonder how big the boy was.

Or imagine that luscious, soft skin with water gliding over its surface.

The steamy room. The wet hair. The clean lather of soap covering Malfoy's perfect body.

Before long, Harry discovered a problem. Thinking of the blonde seemed to have stirred a... arousal in Harry, and this was quite obvious by his pants.

Blushing, Harry took care of this, resolving to in the future, never to think of such things again.

The rest of the night was uneventful, aside from an awkward dinner. Malfoy seemed to have kept his word, and hadn't spoken a word to Harry since asking him about the shower, and soon enough, they both tucked themselves into bed around eleven.

Harry was unpleasantly awakened a few hours later by the poking and prodding of a very shaken Draco Malfoy.

"Potter. Potter!" Opening one eye, the sleeping boy glanced at the clock, and groaned discontentedly.

"It's one o'clock in the morning, Malfoy, what the bloody hell do you want?" Malfoy, blushed and sniffed, although Harry did not notice either.

"It's too dark." Harry rolled over, pulling a sheet over his head.

"Turn on a light, then." He mumbled. "Go back to sleep."

"Potter, please..." His voice broke and Harry finally sensed the distress in the blonde's words.

"Are you... are you crying?" Malfoy didn't answer other than to say,

"It's too dark." Once again. Sighing, but now too intrigued to go back to sleep, Harry sat up and placed his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Draco Malfoy was indeed crying.

"Are you afraid of the dark Malfoy?" Malfoy just stared. Harry wondered to himself why he did not find this more amusing. After all, it is Malfoy, standing in his bedroom, shaking and crying over something as trivial as the darkness. But, in truth, Harry Potter was not amused. Rather, he was concerned.

"Come on," He said with a sigh, getting rather unsteadily to his feet. "Let's go get you a nightlight."

Malfoy sniffed, and again, did not answer.

"Jesus Malfoy," Harry told to boy in exasperation, "stop crying. You seemed fine when we went to bed", he observed. He watched Malfoy, who gave him a nonverbal shake of the head.

"Have you been lying there scared for the past two hours?" He asked incredulously. He took the lack of response as a confirmation. "Why on earth didn't you come get me earlier?"

"I thought I could handle it." The blonde croaked wiping at his eyes. Harry noticed with concern that his hands were trembling. He by this point had led the boy through the hall and down the stairs and he was currently riffling through the kitchen odds and ends drawer.

"Well, you obviously can't," Harry replied. "What on earth are you so afraid of? It's just darkness, Malfoy." The frightened boy only continued to cry. "Did something happen to you? As a kid? Is that it?" This still failed at eliciting a response. "There we are." Harry said, pulling something from the drawer. "its okay, Malfoy, relax. See?" He held up the object.

"What's that?" Harry almost rolled his eyes, having forgotten that Malfoy knew absolutely nothing about muggles.

"It's a nightlight." Harry explained. "It will keep away the dark. Come on." He led the shaking boy back upstairs and into the guest room. The sheets were tussled, as though Malfoy had been turning in his bed.

After searching around a few moments for an outlet, he plugged the light in, allowing the room to be illuminated, casting the silhouettes of the two along the walls.

"See?" He said to Draco. "Better?" Draco nodded. "Go to sleep, Malfoy." He said tiredly. "I'm going back to bed. And Merlin's sake, if you need anything, come get me before I pass out?"

Harry moved to leave the room but was stopped by a soft sob. He turned to see that Draco was still standing in the middle of the room, crying, and despite the fact that he hated the boy, and it was well past one in the morning, Harry could not bring himself to leave him in such a state.

"Are... are you okay, Malfoy?" He asked uncertainly, moving back toward the boy. He ushered him over to the bed and sat him down upon it. "Hey," He told him gently, "look at me." Malfoy did. "You know that cupboard downstairs?" He asked. The blonde nodded silently as Harry, without thinking, wiped tears from his cheeks. "My uncle used to lock me in there. Pitch dark. Terrified me at first, but I don't mind it now." Draco stared. "Did something like that happen to you? Is that why you're afraid?"

"I-I" the grey eyed boy began, "Harry I can't." He was still shaking. Harry frowned. Though he desperately wanted to know what Draco was so desperately afraid of, he knew that now was not the time to press. So instead, he allowed his enemy to retain said information and allowed the boy to grasp his hand in an attempt to find comfort. How unlike him...

"Alright." He said with a sigh. "The darkness is gone now. See? It's alright. You're okay." The blonde nodded, finally beginning to calm down a little. "You don't cry like this every night, I hope? How do you manage to sleep back at school?"

"I have a candle." Malfoy mumbled in response. Harry nodded and gestured to the nightlight.

"Well that thing right there works just like a candle," he told him. "But it won't go out. Try to get some sleep." With that, Harry gave the boy's hand one last comforting squeeze and rose to return to his own room.

Draco, however, did not release his hand, but instead pull Harry back toward him, kissing him gently.

Harry pulled away after returning the kiss briefly and stared.

This was turning into a very bizarre night indeed...

**AN: this was originally meant to be a oneshot, but I think I'm going to make this a little bit of a multi-chap. But I assure, It won't be longer than five chapters. I might not add to this at all, and whether or not I do depends on request. No point continuing if it's not wanted so please, REVEIW. I love you all,**

**xForeversEndx**


	2. Chat Between Men

Harry Potter awoke the following morning, briefly wondering whether the previous night had happened at all. He assumed it could have quite easily been a dream. After all, in what other world would it make sense for Draco Malfoy of all people to wake him up, crying, because he was afraid of the dark and then kiss him?

That's exactly as Harry thought.

It just didn't make any sense.

Curious, and not trusting his memory, Harry stood and tiptoed down the hallway of number four, Privet Drive, and poked his head into the guest room. There was the nightlight, still shining on, and there was Malfoy, fast asleep, and comically, with his thumb in his mouth.

Now, _this, _Harry found amusing. He'd exercised restraint and hadn't laughed at the upset boy the night before, but this was too good to be true. He snuck back to his own bedroom and riffled around before retrieving a camera. It was an old one. One that printed pictures immediately and returned to the guest room.

Click.

Click.

Click.

And then Harry stopped, because he felt like a stalker. Walking down to the kitchen Harry stared at the printed photos with a grin on his face. Oh, this was good. But then Harry frowned.

He couldn't show these to anyone. Even after all Malfoy had done. Besides, it was clear even in the photos that Malfoy had been crying and... well, he just couldn't do that to him. Sighing, he placed the pictures in his pocket and began to make himself breakfast, being the first one awake.

Malfoy came sauntering down the stairs around an hour later, completely dressed, surprisingly, in muggle clothes. This however was not the reason Harry had to stop and wonder if he had gone barmy and hadn't realised it. Malfoy's general demeanour suggested that nothing had happened the previous night and caused Harry to, one again, wonder if it had.

Harry was happily in the sitting room watching the telly (Dudley would not be up for hours, Vernon had gone to work and Petunia out shopping) when the blonde had made his appearance.

"Where's breakfast, Potter?" The boy barked. Harry rolled his eyes and lazily pointed toward the kitchen.

"Help yourself, Malfoy." He said with a yawn, and picked up the remote, feeling rather disconcerted by a particular image on the screen.

"Don't they have house elves for that sort of thing?" He asked indignantly.

"Muggle families don't. And drop the attitude Malfoy. We're not at school. There's no one to impress here." The grey eyed boy strutted into the living room and stood in front of the telly, purposely blocking Harry's view.

"Excuse me Potter?" Harry couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the hostility had by no means reached his rival's eyes. How had he not noticed it had all been an act by now? "What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, bugger off, Malfoy. You and I both know that you're not nearly as tough as you put off. Or do you not remember any of last night at all?" Breaking his previous resolution not to use the Slytherin's fears against him, Harry had brought it up. Malfoy blushed.

"Forget about last night, got it Potter?" Harry just shook his head at the anger in his words. "It's was nothing, okay?" Harry raised his eyebrows as his tone turned defensive.

"It didn't seem much like nothing, Malfoy. Whatever the hell happened to you, I'm sorry, and it doesn't give you a right to be an arse."

"Nothing happened." Malfoy mumbled. "Forget it."

"Nothing happened? You just came into my room at the one o'clock in the morning crying for no reason? Okay, sure. Whatever you say, Malfoy. Please, get out of my way." Harry watched as Draco took a breath, seeming to lose a bit of his facade.

"I'm just... I'm just afraid of the dark, okay Potter? Does it matter?" Harry looked at him, seeing once again some of the vulnerability that he'd seen the night before.

"Well, yeah, Malfoy, it does. If something happened, then yes, it matters because whatever it was affected you quite a bit." Malfoy glared, but Harry detected a sense of nervousness in the Dragon's grey eyes. He was hiding something.

"Yeah, well nothing happened. So it doesn't matter." He snapped. Harry rolled his eyes, no longer caring.

"Okay, fine. Nothing happened. Stop being so defensive and get out of my way." He said through clenched teeth.

"Or, what, Potter?" Harry thought for a moment, and smirked.

"Or I tell the whole the school that you suck your thumb."Draco paled, but didn't give in.

"I don't... what the bloody hell would give you that idea?" He tried, and failed, to imitate surprise. Harry lazily pulled a photo from his pocket and flashed it at him.

"I hold the cards now, Malfoy. I suggest you don't test me." The blonde smirked, despite the current blackmail.

"You were watching me sleep, Potter? How perverse... why am I not surprised? And what do you want from me anyway? To be nice to you? What the bloody hell have you ever done for me?" Harry raised his eyebrows.

"For starters," He said with annoyance, "I didn't laugh at your breakdown of sorts last night. And don't go saying you hate me either. You seemed pretty chummy when you bloody kissed me, so I wouldn't go thinking you're in any position to wager with me." A look of horror crossed Malfoy's features and he drew in a shaky breath.

"K-kissed you? You mean I didn't dream that?" Harry shook his head.

"Nope. That actually happened." Without a word, Malfoy stepped away from the telly and retreated into the kitchen. Harry rolled his eyes. Something had certainly happened to the boy to cause such a dark fear. But it wasn't worth the trouble to find out.

"Do you know how to work a microwave, Malfoy?" He called after the blonde, realising that he would be entirely out of place in muggle kitchen. He listened for a response, and got none. Sighing, but knowing that Petunia would have a fit if she came home and Malfoy had managed to set the house alight he followed the boy into the kitchen.

Malfoy was standing at the counter, presumably cutting a loaf of bread, when Harry heard him sniff.

"Malfoy?"

"What do you want, Potter?" the boy snapped. His voice sounded odd. Choked. Was he crying?

"You alright Malfoy?" Harry watched from behind as the Slytherin reached up to wipe at his eyes before turning to look at him.

"I'm fine." He attempted a smile and Harry's eyes narrowed.

"What's wrong?" Malfoy turned back around.

"I could be asking you the same question." He heard his enemy mumble.

"What the bloody hell are you on about Malfoy?"Harry walked over to the boy, forcing him to look at him. Malfoy just stood and stared, with tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" he whispered. "You should be making fun of me." A sudden realisation hit Harry quite like a brick as he took in his companion's words.

"Malfoy, there was nothing funny about last night. I don't laugh when I see people cry, that's a Slytherin thing. And the kiss? Look, if you're gay or not it wouldn't matter because it would be pretty damn hypocritical of me to laugh at you for that. If you want we can pretend that never happened, but you need to know that it's okay to be afraid of things." Malfoy just shook his head.

"It's not." He whispered, sniffing again. "It's weak and pathetic and you should be teasing me relentlessly right now." He broke off. "Because I deserve it." Harry raised his eyebrows in concern.

"What on earth makes you think you deserve it Malfoy? Come here, sit down." He coerced the blonde into the living room and sat beside him on the sofa.

"Just forget it," he mumbled, wiping tears from his eyes, seeming determined not to allow them passage down his cheeks. "It doesn't matter."

"It does." Harry said gently. "More than you realise." The vulnerable expression on Malfoy's features was enough to make Harry want to cry.

"I-I cried in front of you." He whispered. "I let someone know about one of my biggest secrets. I'm so pathetic I can't even stop myself from crying in front of my worst enemy. If f-father were here..." His lower lip trembled and Harry couldn't help but notice how terrified he seemed by this.

"None of that matters, Malfoy. Your father isn't here. And from what I can tell, you don't agree with him otherwise you wouldn't even be here right now. I mean, it's just a guess, but I'm pretty sure that whatever happened at home for you to wind up here wouldn't have if you were really the spitting image of him that you try to be." Malfoy slowly shook his head.

"So does it really matter that you cried in front of me? I know you and I have never gotten along but I'm not a horrible person. I wouldn't hold something like that against you."

"The kiss." Malfoy whispered. This time a tear or two did run down his cheeks and he hastily wiped them away.

"Malfoy, I'm gay. And I'm not a bloody hypocrite. Your sexual preference means nothing to me." After staring at Harry with a look of deep distrust, Malfoy finally nodded.

"Okay." He said softly. "I guess it doesn't matter." Harry squeezed the boy's shoulder reassuringly.

"That's the spirit. And hey, if you ever feel like talking you know where to find me."

And with that, Harry Potter left Draco Malfoy to his thoughts, for he had a few of his own to explore.

Did he really want Malfoy to forget about that kiss?

Or had he liked it more than he thought?

Harry Potter was very confused.


	3. Admission

The rest of the week passed by without incident, with Harry and Malfoy avoiding each other when possible, and when in contact, exchanging the necessary derogatory remark every now and then, but were, for the most part, civil. The nightlight which Harry had found on Draco's first night still shown brightly, and with it, they had no repeating incidents.

From an outside view, one would say that nothing had changed, that Malfoy coming into Harry's room in the middle of the night crying was just a fluke, and they'd forgotten the whole thing. Such an assumption would be as wrong as it was possible to be.

For Harry Potter had been unable to think of anything else for days on end. If Malfoy was just putting up a front and pretending to be strong where, in reality, he was terrified of the dark, and the attitude he put up was only meant to impress people, Harry couldn't help but wonder what else about Malfoy was hidden to public eye.

But this was all passing thought to Harry. A nagging, repeating wonder, just back round noise to what Harry was _really _thinking about.

The kiss.

There was something about that kiss that Harry couldn't let go of. He had to stop and wonder for a moment, if he was reading too much into it. Call him crazy, but Harry felt so much packed into that simple moment of contact, he could hardly believe that this was the same Malfoy whom he had fought with for the previous six years.

It seemed to him that in that one single kiss, Malfoy had been thanking him, apologising to him, and declaring some sort of silent truce all in one go. But at the same time, there was something else. Something Harry could not quite put a finger on. Love, perhaps?

Harry doubted it.

Malfoy may not be who he'd thought, but the idea of him loving his mortal enemy was rather… unlikely.

And for some reason unbeknownst to him, Harry Potter felt a twinge of sinking disappointment upon thinking such.

Yes, Harry Potter was very confused indeed.

Draco Malfoy fared not much better than his host.

He'd lie in bed at night, though no longer plagued by the dark, but by nightmares of his childhood that he'd wished long to forget. It was by the ninth day after the nightlight began its work, and fourth time the boy had woken, sweating and crying, that he'd finally decided.

He needed someone to talk to. Even if that person was someone he'd (supposedly) hated for six years.

By the time Malfoy had actually summoned the courage to say something to the black haired adolescent that he'd kissed less than a fortnight before, Harry was busy speaking to a neighbour of his, whom he appeared to be quite friendly with.

The only issue with this was Draco wanted to talk _now_, or else his newly summoned courage would dissipate as quickly as it had come.

Draco Malfoy was in a certain dilemma.

Harry was busy speaking with Eliza, a neighbour of his whom he'd been friends with for years, when he looked up to see Malfoy standing in the doorway, looking quite shaken and slightly upset.

In fact, Malfoy looked so distressed that Harry had to wonder for a moment if he were about to cry.

Coincidently, Draco Malfoy was momentarily wondering the same thing, as the entire time he'd waited in the hallway, he'd grown more and more distressed over the situation and he now felt the embarrassing sting of tears behind his eyes.

Upon seeing the blonde in the doorway with such an expression, Harry thoughts turned worrisome.

"You alright, Malfoy?" He asked uncertainly. Draco stood, silently for a moment, before answering.

"You…" He hesitated, nervous and unsure. "You said if I needed to talk… I could come to you, right?" He visibly winced at the pathetic tone to his voice. Harry was dumbfounded for a moment. In fact, he was more than dumbfounded he was… well he couldn't quite think of word, but truth be told, he'd never been expecting the boy to take him up on the offer. It took several seconds before Harry found himself articulate enough to respond.

"Er… Yeah, Malfoy, of course. Um… a little later? I have…" He stopped. Yes, Malfoy was certainly about to cry. His eyes narrowed. What in the bloody hell was going on? Harry turned to his house guest. "Eliza… do you mind if…?" The girl seemed to understand perfectly and was very gracious of the matter.

"Oh, um, of course Harry. I'll talk to you later." With that she showed herself out, allowing the awkward meeting of the two boys in the sitting room, neither of them quite knowing what to say.

"Sit down, Malfoy." Harry said softly. Draco did so. "I sent my friend home. This better be important." The blonde nodded but said nothing for several moments. "Malfoy?" At last, the boy spoke.

"Don't…" He started, and Harry thought his voice sounded rather odd. "Don't call me Malfoy." He whispered. "Please."

Draco knew perfectly well why this bothered him. The Malfoy name was not something he particularly wanted associated with himself, and only those who disliked him called him as such. He didn't want Harry, who was supposed to be helping him, to despise him in the way he despised himself.

Harry on the other hand did not understand this. But, sensing the boy's discomfort, he agreed.

"Alright. You know you don't have to talk to me, Draco, if you don't want." He said slowly, almost hoping that Draco would change his mind on speaking.

"No…" Draco answered slowly. "I need to." Harry sighed, but tried to remain patient.

"Okay. What's wrong?" Draco again, fell silent for a very long time. It was just when Harry was wondering if he was going to talk at all, when his voice, shaking, resonated clearly through the room.

"M-my father tried to k-kill me." He said shakily, though not crying. "When I was seven." Harry stared at him for a moment, and after deciding that Draco was in fact telling the truth, he responded.

"Oh… oh my god, Draco… why…" Harry Potter was at a loss for words. Draco shrugged.

"I don't know." And his voice broke. Tears brimmed his grey eyes but they didn't spill over. "I must have done something wrong." He said softly. "He… he took us on… this… outing." He swallowed hard. "To some cave. H-he used a… a reducto charm and…" He voice broke again, his hands trembling with the memory.

Harry, instinctively reached out and held Draco's trembling hand in his own.

"Its okay, Draco." He said softly. "Tell me what happened."

"I was t-trapped. He was trying to make it look like an accident and… none of the rocks had hit me. I was there for… days. I yelled and yelled but… they left me…" Now Draco did begin to cry, and Harry allowed him to do so, feeling that the blonde needed it.

"How did you get out?" Harry asked, as horrified as he was curious.

"I dug my way out…" He sniffed. "I got the attention of some… witch. She took me back to London and my parents acted all grateful that I was back and then… Obliviated her." He sniffed again and wiped at his eyes. "But I knew." He choked on a sob. "I knew what he'd tried to do."

Harry, unknowing of what to do, pulled the boy into his arms.

"I've been terrified of the dark ever since." Draco murmured into Harry's shirt. Harry just rubbed his back, shushing him gently. He really had no idea what to say.

"It's okay." He said softly. "It's over. Dumbledore isn't going to make you go back there again." Draco sniffled.

"They were trying to make me take the mark." He whispered.

Harry sighed. He had assumed as much.

Draco Malfoy was surprised at the weight he felt lifted from him. He'd never told anyone about the cave before. He supposed it felt good… to get a secret off his mind. And as he felt Harry holding him tight against him, he received a surge of bravery.

Maybe… maybe he should let something else off his mind as well. He pulled away from Harry, and, blushing a bit, wiped tears from his pale cheeks, deciding that he was done crying for the moment.

"Can I tell you something else?" He asked softly, though by this point he was determined to say it anyway.

"Sure." Draco took a deep breath.

"It wasn't an accident that I kissed you."

Harry Potter was a very happy man.

**AN: To those of you who have read previous stories of mine, maybe you'd noticed that my writing style seems a little different. I'm using a third person omniscient point of view… and I've been reading Pride and Prejudice, so I apologise if the style seems to be a little winded or pretentious, I'm merely taking off of Austen's style. The next chapter will be the last, and a bit of an epilogue. I don't think this one's quite as good as my other works, but I've enjoyed writing it.**

**REVIEW**

**Love, xForeversEndx**


	4. Draco's Lion

When Harry Potter walked into the backmost compartment of the Hogwarts express the first day of term with none other than Draco Malfoy, it was the first instinct of one Ronald Weasley to make a rude remark about the latter. However, when Ron caught view of the fact that his best friend was holding Malfoy's hand, he had to wonder if he had eaten a bad frog and was now hallucinating. Determining that this was the case, he proceeded to insult the blonde anyway.

"What are _you _doing here Malfoy?" He spat the name with malice. "None of us want you here. It's too early in the term for your ugly face. Get out."

Hermione Granger, unlike her quick tempered boyfriend, was quick to dismiss the hallucination theory and smiled slightly at the sight of their interlaced hands and frowned at her boyfriends comment. Harry Potter was equally as alarmed at this a Hermione. With his best friend's comment he turned to look at his boyfriend, who looked suddenly close to tears.

Draco Malfoy should have known. He should have never allowed Harry to talk him into this. As tears began to sting his eyes he held them back, wishing not to cry in front Harry for the fourth time in half as many months. He should've never done this.

Harry Potter, on the other hand, was not as easily put out. He took a deep breath before speaking calmly to his friends.

"Ron," he said, ignoring his friend's previous comment as though he had never spoken, "Hermione, this is _Draco._" He emphasised the name. He took a deep breath and squeezed Draco's hand. "My boyfriend."

Having previously known that Harry was gay, the fact that he was dating a guy wasn't a surprise. But it being _Malfoy, _well, Ron just couldn't understand.

"You're joking, right?" He asked softly, with a quiet laugh. "_Malfoy?_" Hermione Granger sensed it before even Harry had.

"Ron..." She said gently. "Stop." Harry was the next to see it coming. The tears in Draco's eyes were dangerously close to spilling over. Draco turned to his boyfriend, upset over this.

"I can just go." He whispered with a shaking voice. "They don't want me here." He sniffed and brought a hand across his eyes. Harry frowned, realising the difficulty in which Draco was having trying to keep himself together.

"That's not true, Draco." He said in gentle tone, not wanting the boy to break. He turned to Ron before continuing to speak. "Ron is just being a moron." Said Ron glowered angrily, as Draco, who had not nearly as much self control as he'd like to put off, started crying silently.

"No he's not." Draco snapped, rejecting the green eyed boys attempt at comfort. "I knew they wouldn't Harry. I'll just go..." At this, Hermione, who finally decided that she should speak up on the situation, stood and walked over to the crying boy, who was blushing in embarrassment from the tears, and spoke in just a gentle tone as Harry had earlier.

"Draco," She said, sure to use his first name in attempt to show approval. "Ronald has a quick temper. I'm sure if you and Harry were to speak to him, and explain the situation," she gave Ron a demanding look as she said so. "he'll understand, okay?" Draco looked uncertain.

"I don't know." He sniffed. "I don't know. You hate me. You both do, why should I listen to you?" He brought himself closer to Harry as he said so. Harry sighed at started to wipe at the tears on his boyfriend's cheeks.

"Ron has a quick temper, yes, but he's my best friend, Dray. Trust me, alright?" With another sniff, the blonde finally nodded, starting to stop crying. With that, Harry led him by the hand over to the redhead.

"Ron," Harry said, trying again, "this is my boyfriend, Draco." Ronald, who appeared slightly uncomfortable and could not for the life of him understand why Malfoy of all people had managed to bag his best friend, just nodded slowly.

"Ron." He held it out to Draco, who let go of Harry's hand to grasp Ron's.

"Listen," Draco said desperately, no longer crying but with a shaky voice and rather put out disposition. "I'm so sorry for everything I've done. But... but please. I need Harry. I know how awful I've been... and..." He bit his lower lip, feeling as though he were about to cry again.

"Sit down," Hermione said kindly. "It's alright." Draco did so and wrapped his hand in Harry's again, unable to stomach the thought of being rejected.

"Okay, why don't you explain to Ron and me how you and Harry got together." Draco didn't want to trust her. He didn't understand why he should trust her, when he'd been awful to her for the past six years. She'd even slapped him for Merlin's sake. But despite all this, Draco Malfoy could not help but trust the brown haired girl before him. He nodded, and tried not to cry.

"Okay." He whispered. He squeezed Harry's hand, needing comfort.

"It's okay, baby." Harry said softly, who was currently wondering if he should be amused, or annoyed, by the pale tone to Ron's skin. Draco Malfoy looked to his boyfriend with a look of desperation.

"Do I have to tell him everything?" Draco couldn't understand the growing lump in his throat or why there were tears in his eyes, but they were there and fighting. He wanted to scream in frustration. He hated crying in front of people.

"Not everything." Harry said gently, and Draco knew he was speaking about his father's murder attempt ten years before. Draco sighed and wiped angrily at his eyes.

"I had to stay at Harry's aunt and uncle this summer." He mumbled. "They were trying to make me a Death Eater and Dumbledore took me to stay with Harry." The angry look in Ron's eyes softened slightly upon hearing that the boy did not want to become a Death Eater.

"Okay." Hermione spoke quietly, gently, and Draco sensed empathy off the girl, which gave him more incentive to continue.

"I'm... No." He shook his head. He turned to the boy next to him. "No. I can't, Harry, he'll laugh at me." His voice broke and he was starting to cry again. He didn't understand what was wrong with him. Draco never cried. Only at night. Only when it was too dark. But not this. He didn't cry in front of people. Especially people who hated him and wanted to laugh at him.

"He bloody well won't, Draco." Harry's tone was firm, but the firm quality to his said tone was not meant for the blonde, but for the red head, who was feeling rather disoriented for all that was going on.

"I'm afraid of the dark." He murmured, resting his head on Harry's shoulder and hugging the boy's arm tightly. He resisted the childish urge to clench his eyes closed, waiting for the coming laughter. But the laughter never came.

"Okay." Ron's voice shook. "And what does that have to do with..." he gestured at the contact between Draco and his best friend. "This?"

"I had to wake Harry up." He wiped at his cheeks. "He gave me someone to talk to for once. It just... happened."

Ronald Weasley was willing enough to accept this explanation, to the great relief of both Harry and Draco, who shamelessly allowed the latter to gently stroke tears from his pale face.

"Okay." Ronald Weasley's tone meant business. "Okay, fine, but if you hurt my best mate I'll kick your ass and don't you dare think I won't." Draco nodded.

"Okay. I promise." And with that he hugged himself even closer to the green-eyed boy. "Thank you." He whispered. His eyes closed.

The train ride passed with idle conversation until it's arrival in Hogsmeade station, where, as Harry was getting off and onto the platform, Draco Malfoy grabbed his hand, preventing him from stepping off the train.

"Harry, I'm scared." He whispered. At first, Harry Potter thought that his boyfriend was afraid because it was dark, and partially, this was true. However, with Harry there, the dark, outside, with a crowd of people was defiantly something he could handle. No, Draco Malfoy was afraid of none other than his own dorm mates.

"What's wrong?" Harry gently pulled Draco down to the platform.

"The Slytherin's" The blonde whispered shakily, wrapping his arms around the saviour's waist.

"Come on, Draco. They're assholes but they're still human. You can eat with us in the hall. The only time you have to be around them is at night, baby. You'll be fine." Draco grabbed Harry's hand and stared up at the moon.

"Yeah. That's what I'm worried about. At night. In the dark. I cry when it gets too dark, Harry, you _know _that." Harry remained silent, sensing that Draco had something else to say. "I mean... I have that candle but... what if it goes out? Who am I... who am I supposed to go to?" Harry frowned.

"How've you gotten through the last six years? You're going to be okay, Draco. Trust me, alright?" Draco Malfoy stared at the boy for moment, trying to decide whether or not he really should trust his judgement, or follow his instincts and sneak into the Gryffindor common room at night when he got scared.

"I'm still scared at night, Harry. Even with the candle. It keeps me from losing it but... when I was with you this summer, I was okay. Because you were right down the hall."

All Harry Potter could think to do was pull the shorter boy into his arms and just keep him there. He gently ran his fingers through Draco's silky blonde hair, shushing him softly.

"It's okay."

Harry's comforting managed to placate the teen for a little while, but by the end of dinner in the Great Hall, the boy with the grey eyes was literally shaking with anticipation of the cold, dark, dungeon room, with nothing but a candle to chase the memories away.

When Harry walked his boyfriend to his dorm room, and just as Draco was wondering if maybe crying could convince Harry to allow him to sleep with him that night, the dark haired boy grabbed his hand.

"I have a surprise for you, baby." Draco stopped. No one had ever given him a present for no reason before and he was having a difficult time believing it.

"What is it?"

"Come on." Harry grabbed his hand and led him into an empty classroom. As Draco sat down on a desk, he marvelled at the boy who had given him so much already.

"Now, baby." Harry started softly. "I know how scared you get a night. And I know that here, there's not much I can do to help with that. But I don't like the idea of letting you cry by yourself in that awful dungeon." Draco was going to open his mouth to tell Harry that though he was still scared with the candle, he didn't cry so long as he had that to keep some of the darkness away, but decided against it.

"So, I thought it over." Harry continued with a little smile, and pulled something from his bag, but kept it hidden from Draco's view. "And I thought to myself, what can I do to give Draco a part of me, so he can sleep at night? And I got an idea. Now, it might seem silly, but I want to think of this as a little bit of me. So you won't be alone."

And with that, Harry Potter offered up to Draco Malfoy a small, soft, stuffed lion. A grin spread across Draco's face that hurt his face. Harry was his Gryffindor. His lion. His saviour. He grabbed the animal, clutched it to his chest, and then pulled Harry as close to him as possible.

"Thank you." He whispered, wondering why in the bloody hell he was crying. The sentimentality, perhaps? He tending to do that a lot around Harry. Cry. But Harry didn't mind. So he didn't care. "Thank you so much, Harry." The boy just smiled at him.

"So you'll never be alone."

Draco Malfoy slept like a baby that night.

**Well there it is. As with all my stories, I'm going to ask that you all REVIEW, seeing as this is the last chapter and I'd like to know what you thought of the whole story. Love you all,**

**xForeversEndx**


	5. The Slytherins

By the following morning, confusion was beginning to set in. The rest of the school was just now fully realising that Draco Malfoy had been seen the previous night at the Gryffindor table with someone who was supposedly his enemy. The confusion only grew when Harry and Draco walked into the Great Hall for breakfast together, talking animatedly about something or another.

In fact, the shock was so huge that Pansy Parkinson believed legitimately for a moment that she was hallucinating. Searching around for some sign that she wasn't, she glanced over at Crabbe and Goyle, who were scratching their heads stupidly, and sighed; these two scratching their heads was nothing out of the ordinary. Instead, she turned to Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott who were whispering confusedly to one another.

"What the fuck?" So that answers that. She most certainly was not hallucinating. With this, she burst into tears, realising now that if Draco were hanging out with Gryffindors, she would never chance at dating him, as her parents simply would not allow it.

Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were not at all oblivious to the confused stares of their classmates. Rather, they simply ignored the open mouths and sat down, assuming they'd allow the others to be confused until someone asked what the bloody hell was going on.

The first person to do so was in fact a member of Gryffindor house itself. Dean Thomas stared, open-mouthed for a moment before exclaiming, rather rudely,

"What the fuck are you doing here, Malfoy?" Malfoy blushed but did not respond, allowing Harry to do so for him.

"Oh, right." Said Harry, as though he'd simply forgotten that the Gryffindors would be unfamiliar of this union, though in reality he'd really been waiting eagerly for a confused question. "Draco and I are dating now." Harry smirked at the reactions he'd caused. He'd made the statement as casually as though he'd been giving the weather, and as if there we absolutely nothing out of the ordinary over this statement.

"What?!" The rest of the table chorused together. Neville looked pale. Ron and Hermione, having received this shock the night before simply laughed along with Harry. Suddenly Harry's expression became serious and he glared out at all of them.

"Any of you have a problem with that?" The underlying threat to his words generally elicited the searched approval from his housemates, who had all known he was gay, except one. Seamus Finnegan, Dean's boyfriend, who had previously been known for disagreeing with Harry and not backing down, was not intimidated at all.

"I don't like him." He said coolly. "Surely, you could have chosen better." Harry glared at the Irishman as the rest of the table looked disbelievingly at the two of them.

"Yes, well too bad Seamus. Because I chose Draco. And you better damn well not upset him or it will be my foot up your arse, understand?" Seamus glared and looked over a Dean for at backup, who was not nearly as hot-headed or as brave as his boyfriend, and he made it quite clear that he was NOT going to agree with Seamus on such a matter.

"Fine." He glowered. "But that doesn't mean I like him." Draco Malfoy at this point was feeling rather disliked. Though it was only one true disapproval, he felt as though the entire table had told him to leave. Lacking confidence, the boy was beginning to feel as though he'd fucked up his chanced at happiness by being such an arse in the previous years. To Draco's credit, however, he did not cry as he had when originally faced with Ronald Weasley's shun. He simply chewed his lower lip and did not speak.

It was, in fact, not the Gryffindors' reactions that he had been dreading.

By the end of breakfast, the entire school was buzzing with the news. Still, however, it had not gotten into the heads of the other students that the two were _dating _and were not merely friends. People were craning their necks, walking into suits of armour and going out of their way to see Harry and Draco who were resolutely ignoring this all. However, when a first year Slytherin asked Harry if he was "fag", the resulting growl from the blonde caused the small boy to squeak and run away.

Harry, realising that their classmates still did not comprehend the situation, boldly grabbed his boyfriend's hand and squeezed it tightly. After all, Harry was used to such attention, being the Boy Who Lived and all.

Draco, on the other hand, was not. By the end of the day, the attention was beginning to get to him. Don't get him wrong, he was happy to have their relationship in the open, but he was exhausted. He'd gotten nothing but jeers from his housemates, and he was now terrified of returning to the common room that night.

By the time dinner came around, all the students (other than the Slytherins) had grown tired of staring and pointing and, besides the occasional whisper, left the two alone. Draco Malfoy, though, was now by this point paranoid, and both physically and emotionally drained. Harry Potter noticed his boyfriend merely pushing his food around on his plate, and eating nothing at all.

"Are you alright?" The black haired boy narrowed his eyes in worry, wondering what was going on. Draco just shrugged.

"It's been a hell of a day." He mumbled. The thought of going back to his own common room that night, in the dark, with the only group (aside from Seamus) who disagreed with his choice in boyfriends, was more than he could handle. The nauseous feeling in his stomach was preventing him from eating.

Harry frowned, thinking this over for a moment. He, after all, had not been bothered by excess attention since the third year, and it took him a minute or two to realise that Draco would be affected by such. He placed a hand on the blonde boy's shoulder.

"It gets easier. By the end of the week, they'll be busy talking about something else." Draco just bit on his lower lip and nodded. Harry didn't understand. He knew the Slytherins.

And they wouldn't want... someone like him... in their dorm.

Unfortunately, for him though, Harry refused to comprehend the concept of homophobia, and thus insisted that Draco sleep in his own dorm that night.

"Harry, please." He'd begged outside house entrance later that night. "I can't..."

"Draco..." Harry said softly, "You can't spend the whole year on the couch in the Gryffindor common room. You've got to face it sometime. Better now than later.

Draco shook his head and Harry nearly backed down when he spotted tears in the boy's eyes. Determined, though, he held his ground. The Slytherins could not possibly be all that bad. After all, out of all of Slytherin, odds were _one _of them was gay. Draco was overreacting. He was sure if it.

"Dray..." He pleaded softly. "Please don't cry..."

Pouting, and realising that crying wasn't going to get him his way, Draco wiped at his eyes.

"You're strong enough for this." Harry said, sounding sure of himself. "I know you are."

Harry didn't realise, but his statement made more of an effect on Draco as he'd intended. Malfoy was now determined not to let Harry down.

"Fine." He mumbled. He would have to be strong. If he wasn't... well... maybe Harry wouldn't want him anymore. Harry smiled at him as his heart sank.

"Goodnight, baby." Harry then gave him a quick kiss.

"Goodnight." Draco's reply was shaky.

As Harry walked away, he ignored the nervous feeling the pit of his stomach. He was beginning to have second thoughts on leaving Draco alone with the Slytherins. He shook it off though, deciding that he would be fine.

The moment Draco walked into the Slytherin common room, he shrank into himself. He almost turned around and ran back out to Harry, but he reminded himself that Harry wanted him to be strong, and it was the fear that he wouldn't want him anymore if he was pathetic that pushed him to open the door of his dorm room.

"Hey, faggot." Those were the first words he heard upon entering. Biting back the tears and keeping his head held high, he moved to his four-poster, only to discover that his candle had gone missing.

Theodore Nott noticed where Draco was looking and laughed.

"What are you going to do without the candle, pansy boy?" He asked. Draco glared.

"Fuck off, Nott." He snapped.

"Ooo," the boy jeered. "Not a very proper princess, I see. You're a disgrace to the Slytherin house, Malfoy." Draco was shocked. Appalled. Until today, he and Theodore had gotten along relatively well. He was taken about and more than a little hurt that someone who he had previously thought to be a friend would treat him like this.

Crabbe and Goyle weren't intelligent enough to make any sort of rude remark other than to laugh at Nott's comment, and though Blaise, who was sitting in the corner, looked a little uncomfortable and slightly sympathetic at the sight of Draco's upset expression, he remained silent, allowing Nott to continue.

"I take that as a compliment." Draco mumbled.

"Don't." Theodore demanded. "I wouldn't ever compliment a fag." Despite his reputation, Draco was really not much of a fighter. In fact, he had earned that reputation by his behaviour of intimidation tactics over the years, and with that gone, he had no way of fighting back.

"I'm going to bed." Nott said, with a suspicious glance at Draco, as though he might molest him in his sleep.

"Me too." Blaise agreed, though looking worriedly at Draco, but still, saying nothing to his defense.

Before Draco knew it, the lights were off. Placing a quick, well timed silencing charm on his four-poster, he groped under his pillow for the lion, only to discover that that was missing too. The tears started to spill over, but Draco was crying for more than one reason this time.

He was crying because he was scared.

He was crying because someone was supposed to be his friend was treating him like he didn't deserve to live.

He was crying because he couldn't understand what was wrong with him.

He was crying because Harry wasn't there to make it better.

With the safety of the silencing charm, Draco allowed the tears to run down his cheeks and the sobs to wrack his body. He was terrified.

And he knew that the moment he fell asleep, if he ever did, all he'd get were nightmares of that night.

But despite all this, he wouldn't tell Harry in the morning.

Because Harry wanted him to be strong.

He'd just cry until the tears ran out, and get through the next day pretending that everything was okay.

Draco Malfoy did not get much sleep that night.

**Thank you guys for all the requests. This chapter is a little short, but I promised a new chappie by Friday if you asked for one, so here it is. (PS. I know it's not Friday NOW but the doc manager wouldn't let me upload) I will continue to continue with this story as long as it's wanted, so please REVIEW. I love hearing input and you were all so willing to answer to my continuation questioning. **

**Lovingly, and with high regards,**

**xForeversEndx. **e


	6. Midnight Talk

When Blaise Zabini woke the following morning, his first impression was that the dorm was empty. He was late after all. But then, a moment later something came to his attention. The curtains hanging around the bed belonging to one Draco Malfoy was still closed. He sighed, assuming that he must still be asleep.

The previous night had not amused Blaise in the least, in fact, he was disgusted by Theodore's behaviour, and yet he could never bring himself to the boy's defence. He felt sorry for Draco. He'd heard the silencing charm the boy had placed around his bed, and he understood what it could only possibly mean. His dorm mate had been teased to the point of tears, and as he thought such, a wave of pity washed through him. He pulled Draco's curtains open and shook him gently.

"Hey, Malfoy." He glanced around, not wanting to be caught being friendly to the boy. "Malfoy, come on, you have to wake up."

Blaise watched, and as the boy awoke, he pitied the frightened expression on his face and sighed.

"Hey, relax. I'm not gonna hurt you. You've got to get to class." And with that he left.

Draco Malfoy was more than a little surprised to discover Blaise Zabini still acting somewhat decently toward him as he awoke. The blonde boy rubbed at his eyes as he winced. His head hurt, he was exhausted, and the previous night's events came rushing back at him, bringing him once again near the point of tears. Taking a deep breath, he composed himself, and wandered into the bathroom to stare loathingly into the mirror.

His pale cheeks were a little blotchy and his eyes bloodshot and lined with purple shadows. The boy wondered how long he had cried the previous night for him to look so horrendous the next morning. He washed his face only to discover that this had dismal results. As he tried to remember the incantation for a glamour charm, he inwardly scolded himself, reminding himself that he should have expected such a reaction that he shouldn't have allowed himself to get into such a condition.

Finally remembering the charm, and using it to rid the signs of recent crying, he sighed, dejectedly, remembering that whether or not their words got to him, the dark would have caused him to cry anyway.

He was

Just

That

Pathetic.

Sighing, he dressed for class and met Harry in the great hall, after checking twice that he appeared well rested and put together.

Harry Potter was fortunate enough to run into Draco on the way to the Great Hall, and the moment he saw him, and was surprised when the later for lack of a better word launched himself at him, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck and refusing to let go.

"Nice to see you too, Draco." Harry stated with an air of amusement, but at the same time feeling a touch of worry. "Um... sleep well?" Draco just kept his face in the crook of Harry neck for a little while, saying nothing, before finally pulling away.

"Fine." He mumbled. Draco scolded himself, now feeling a nearly irresistible urge to break down and tell Harry everything that had happened the previous night. But he once again reminded himself that Harry wanted him to be strong. "I slept fine."

"Were the Slytherin's bad?" He shook his head, unable to vocalise his lie.

"See I told you it would be okay." Draco Malfoy was again unable to speak. Because it wasn't okay.

Draco Malfoy continued this charade for another week or so, with no changed. Seamus still huffed an walked out of the room whenever the blonde visited the Gryffindor tower and the Slytherins were as horrible as ever.

Harry Potter on the other hand was beginning to become suspicious that something was wrong. Although Draco appeared well rested in the mornings, he remained exhausted throughout the day. Falling asleep in class, not paying attention to his school work, stumbling into things. And yet, whenever Harry would ask the boy if he was okay, he'd just nod.

After hexing Greg Goyle for calling Draco and Harry fag in the hallway, he glanced over to see his boyfriend coiling into himself. Draco seemed mildly reluctant to be openly gay with Harry around the school, and he spoke as little as possible.

Harry tried to put this out of his mind, telling himself that he was imagining things, or at the very least, that Draco was handling the situation fine.

It was by the eighth night after Draco had discovered that his candle and lion had gone missing that Blaise Zabini finally decided that enough was enough. He'd heard the quiet _Silencio _too many times. It wasn't funny anymore. Checking to be sure that the others in the room were indeed asleep, he casted a quick _Mufliato _before creeping over to Malfoy's bed.

Taking a deep breath he opened the curtains to find Draco sitting up on his bed, with his arms wrapped around his knees, which he had pulled to his chest, crying, and appearing terrified.

"Hey..." Blaise said softly, taking a chance and sitting beside him. "Hey, what's the matter with you, huh? You've been doing this every night." Draco swiped at his eyes and glared over at Blaise, not understanding that he didn't have intentions of teasing him.

"Piss off, Blaise." He tried to snap. "Just leave me alone." Blaise just frowned.

"I'm not gonna tease you, Malfoy. Nott's the asshole, not me." Draco just glared harder.

"Then why the fuck have you been letting him treat me like that, huh?" he snapped. Blaise sighed, expecting this. HE knew he should have stepped up sooner.

"Is that why you've been crying every night?" He asked gently, avoiding the answer to Draco's question. Malfoy started for a moment before shaking his head, and crying harder because he wished Harry was there to fix it.

"It's too dark." He whispered. Blaise understood immediately.

"The candle. Merlin, Malfoy I didn't know." He wished more than anything at that moment that he knew where Nott had hidden the damn thing. He was no good at comforting people.

"I need Harry." Zabini heard the boy mumble. He was almost positive that he hadn't meant this for Blaise to hear, but it gave him an idea.

"Let's go get him, then. Come on." Blaise stared bemusedly as Draco shook his head violently with a bit of a sob.

"No. He wants me to be strong. If he knows I'm still being pathetic he won't want me anymore." Blaise was incredulous.

"Malfoy, I promise you he wouldn't want this. Come on, we're gonna go find Potter. It's okay." Realising that there was no point in arguing with the darker boy, Draco allowed him to lead them out of the Slytherin dorms.

As they trekked their way up to the Gryffindor tower, he wished desperately that he could stop crying. It was years ago for fucks sake and he was still terrified.

The two arrive at the portrait of the Fat Lady around two thirty.

"Oh, my. Is he alright?" The woman addressed Blaise, seeming to understand that Draco wasn't likely to answer.

"No. Please, I've got to get him into see his boyfriend. I know we're not Gryffindors but he needs him right now. The Fat Lady, having seen Draco frequently in and out of the common room before, obliged in opening up.

"No..." Draco said quietly. "I don't want to wake him up." Blaise sighed. Malfoy, I can't imagine how much sleep you've been losing lately. Go." Blaise Zabini lead Draco Malfoy into the common room and up toward the spiral staircase, being sure that they remained silent.

Harry Potter awoke to someone prodding him. Confused and half asleep, the boy opened his eyes to find his boyfriend standing, crying, with Blaise Zabini. For a moment he wondered if he was dreaming.

"Shh.." He sat up quickly, determining that this was really happening. "Shh, it's okay." He turned to the other Slytherin in the room with a glare. "What the hell did you do to him?!" He snapped in a furious whisper.

"Not here." The darker boy replied, just as quietly. "Let's go downstairs and I'll explain." Harry stood up and ushered the upset blonde toward the door.

"How the hell did you get in here?" He sat down on a sofa, pulled Draco with him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. "Hey, look at me." Draco did. "You're alright. _Lumos Maxima._" The common room was illuminated. He held the boy closer. "You're okay. Shh." His attention returned to Blaise. "Explain."

"It's the other Slytherins." He said at once. "Nott, actually. They've been treating him like shite. Took that candle of his and hid it somewhere. And some stuffed animal thing. He's been putting a silencing charm around his bed at night. I was getting worried so I took him here." Harry glared.

"When the bloody hell did this start?" Draco was now hiding his face in Harry's shirt, mistaking the anger in his tone for annoyance at his pathetic behaviour.

"Second night back." He recoiled under Harry's cold stare. "I know I should have said something earlier... but..." He trailed off. "Look, is he going to be alright?" Harry glared for a moment more before sighing and looking down at the boy who was beginning to calm down.

"Yeah he'll be fine. Thanks, anyway." Blaise just nodded.

"Listen, Nott's a real dick. I..." He was cut off.

"Forget about it, Zabini. Now if you don't mind... I need to speak with Draco." Blaise nodded.

"I really am sorry... and Draco?" The blonde looked up. "It makes no difference to me if you're gay." Draco offered him a weak smile and Blaise left out the portrait hole, allowing Harry to fix the smaller boy with a reprimanding stare.

"Why in the bloody hell did you not come to me a week ago, Dray?" Draco pulled away from Harry and pulled his knees to his chest, staring into the fire.

"You told me to be strong..."

"I didn't mean try to handle this when you can't!" Harry said in exasperation. "Draco, I don't want you crying at night. You know as well as I do that you can't handle that. You should've told me first thing what those assholes were doing." He sighed as the blondes lip trembled slightly and he sniffed.

"Yeah," he snapped, suddenly turning around. "Well maybe I'm just sick of feeling pathetic! I'm sixteen! And I'm fucking crying at night because it's dark! What's wrong with me, Harry?!" Harry frowned and pulled Draco back into his arms.

"There's nothing wrong with you, baby." He whispered. "We all have our weaknesses. You can't be expected to not fear anything. I'm sure you're not the only one. If you sleep with a candle at night, then fine. Don't try to handle it on your own if you can't." Draco sniffed.

"I feel so..." He didn't finish, but Harry understood.

"Look at me, Draco. You don't have to take that shit off anyone, understand?" Draco looked as though he was about to cry again.

"Yes I do. They don't respect me anymore." Harry rolled his eyes. "And I can't fight."

"So fucking what, Draco? You're one of the top in the year. I'm sure you know more hexes than all of them combined. And if you won't, I will. Nott's going to be getting an earful from me tomorrow anyway." Draco shook his head.

"I don't want you fighting my battles..." He mumbled.

"Then fight them yourself." Harry said simply. "But if you won't, don't expect me to do nothing." Draco Malfoy mulled this over for a minute.

He thought of the hell he'd been put through last week. He thought of the sessions where he'd sit and think of how to make it stop, all of them involving his own injury. He thought of the insults. The shoves. The jeers. The tears returned to his eyes, escaping down his cheeks. But with the sadness came anger.

Rage.

Fury.

How dare they treat him like something that didn't deserve to live!

"I'm Draco Malfoy, dammit!" he said forcefully. "I don't deserve this! I'm just as human as any of them! I hurt, I cry, I laugh. Fuck this..." He whispered with a slight angry sob. "Fuck all of this!"

"That's the spirit, Draco." Harry said with a smile. "You don't have to take this." He reached out and wiped some tears from the boy's cheeks. "Now don't cry anymore. You're alright. You need some sleep, come on." Draco nodded, sniffing, and pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes.

He fell asleep curled up against Harry's chest.

Draco Malfoy fell asleep without nightmares for the first time since his return to Hogwarts.

**There we go. I got a review telling me they wanted kind of a vengeful Draco. I think that can be arranged. =) And yes, Blaise IS a good guy. Keep reading, and I'll keep writing. Well, not forever of course, cuz even forever has an end (horrible pun, I know.)**

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**xForeversEndx**


	7. The Battle of the Great Hall

Draco Malfoy awoke the next morning with a pair of arms wrapped around him, causing him immediately to smile. He was Harry's bed. The smile however faded, when he recalled what had happened in order for him to end up in Harry's bed to begin with. He only allowed himself to be saddened by this for a few moments though, because in the next second, he filled himself with a sense of determination.

Harry Potter stirred only a few moments after Draco, and he was equally as pleased to see his companion. Unlike one very unfortunate Seamus Finnigan. You see, Seamus's first reaction upon waking up that morning was a discontented groan, much to his own misfortune.

"Does he have to sleep in here too?" He moaned. "It's bad enough to have him in the damn common room." That was the last straw. The next thing that Seamus saw was the floor as he was hoisted upside down into the air by Harry's silent charm.

The resulting yelp had awoken Dean, Neville, and Ron, all of whom were laughing amusedly as Harry approached his stubborn and suspended roommate.

"I would appreciate it," Harry said in a low, menacing tone. "If you wouldn't speak about my boyfriend like he wasn't in the fucking room, Seamus. What if I hadn't approved of Dean, huh?" His wand was in his face now. "Would you want me constantly putting him down?"

Seamus shook his head and gulped, seeming to realise that he'd really set Harry off this time.

"So help me, Finnigan, if you make him cry again," Draco blushed at the mention of the other day's event, "I will personally hang you off the god damn astronomy tower by your toes. He has been nothing but nice to you and everyone else in this house and all you've done is put him down. I'm fucking sick of your attitude. He's changed. Get used to it."

With a grunt, the sandy-haired boy was dropped rather roughly on his head. He straightened up, rather disgruntled and grumbling to himself, but had resolved, from that point on, to be nicer to Draco. Seamus glared over at Dean who, as his boyfriend, wasn't supposed to be laughing at him.

Draco felt his spirits raise at the sight of this, but realising that if Seamus wouldn't accept him unless he too made an effort, he approached him.

"Listen." He said softly, with the slightest hint of desperation, "I know we haven't gotten along. But I really don't have any problem with you. I know it's hard to trust me but I really wish you would." Seamus opened his mouth to protest, glanced at Harry, and with difficulty, adjusted the tone of his voice to a calmer one.

"Malfoy, how am I supposed to know that you aren't just fooling us all?" He asked with a slight glare. Draco blushed, but understanding that it was necessary, he explained.

"The fact that I'm here this morning." He mumbled. He grudgingly continued when the looks of confusion on everyone's face told him he needed to explain further. "Look, Finnigan," He snapped. "If you must know, I came in here crying last night because the rest of the fucking Slytherin's have been tormenting me!"

Seamus stared, surprised. "Tormenting?" Draco glared through the sudden, angry tears in his eyes. He was unsure if it was from his anger at Seamus or the fury at the Slytherins.

"Yes, Seamus, tormenting." He glared. "I'm afraid of the fucking dark, okay? And what happens when you get a bunch of assholes like them in a room with a fag?" Seamus winced at the term, causing Draco to smirk with satisfaction. "They took the fucking candle I had and the lion Harry gave me and have been ripping me to shreds since I got back! I've been crying at night for over a week!"

"How did you get in here?" Seamus by this point looked guilty, allowing Draco to continue without embarrassment, knowing he was making the Irish boy feel like shit.

"Blaise." He said shortly. "He'd apparently been listening to me at night and got sick of it. The fat lady's seen me around before. I was crying. She let us in." Seamus chewed on his lip for a few moments and, feeling sick to his stomach, looked up at Draco, who by this point had furious tears running down his pale cheeks. His fists were clenched.

"Hey..." He paused and glanced around. The awkwardness in the room was nearly palpable. Ron, Dean, Harry, and Neville were staring at him. "Hey, look..." he sighed, and wished inwardly that Draco would at least wipe the tears from his face. He felt like a total ass. "...I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I didn't realise they..." He trailed off. Draco wasn't done. He'd needed to say this for days.

"That they what, huh?!" He was on the borderline of shouting. "That they've been treating me like I don't deserve to live? Calling me a faggot every chance they get? You should know! You're a bloody pillow-biter too! It hurts! You damn well KNOW it hurts! And I come here, my only fucking escape from this hell hole and I have one of Harry's own friends treating me it!" Seamus sank into himself.

"I've been thinking about ways to end it, you mother fucking _arsehole_!" Draco shouted, by this point nearing hysteria. He knew it was really Nott he should be yelling all this at, but the dam had broken. It was all coming out. And wouldn't stop until he'd said it all. "Do you know what that's like, Finnigan?! Do you!? To wonder if it would be better off not at all?! WHILE YOU'VE BEEN SCOFFING AT ME AND SITTING ALL UP ON YOUR FUCKING THRONE I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT ENDING IT!" He breathed deep.

Harry was in shock. He hadn't known... thoughts ran through his head at about a million miles an hour, feeling himself sinking deeper and deeper into the floor. He was such a horrible boyfriend.

"So yeah..." Draco said softly. "Think about _that _you wanker. The next time you try to shun someone from the only place they're accepted." There was an awkward movement through the room as everyone else attempted to act like they hadn't seen the whole thing.

"I'm sorry." Seamus whispered. He looked close to tears. "I really am." It was Harry's cold voice that responded.

"You damn well better be." He wrapped an arm around Draco. "Are you okay?" Draco sniffed, but nodded.

"Yeah... yeah, actually I feel better." A determined look spread his face. "Nott's gonna get it."

About fifteen minutes later, all the boys were dressed, with Seamus still refusing to meet Draco's eyes. When the rest had gone down to the hall, Harry held Draco back. The serious expression on his face made Draco nervous.

"Why the bloody hell didn't you tell me you'd been thinking about suicide?" The blonde's grey eyes focused on the floor.

"I didn't wanna worry you." He mumbled. "I knew you'd flip..." Harry's tone was firm, nearing angry, but gentle at the same time.

"You're damn right I'd flip! Dray, that's serious." Draco's eyes snapped up from the carpet, staring straight into Harry's.

"I'm okay, alright? It was only at night and... I don't think that anymore." Harry could tell he was being sincere. "I'm not gonna take it laying down anymore. Nott can shove a god damn pineapple up his ass. They all can. I'm done with it." Harry knew he meant it, but he was still nervous. Draco could still break.

"Yeah, and what if it does get to you, Draco? What then? I can't lose you." Draco's stared hard.

"I'm fine." He said resolutely, feeling for once that he was telling the truth. "And if I think like that again, I'll come to you. I promise." After gazing into his boyfriend's eyes for a long while, trying to find any indication of a lie, Harry sighed.

"Okay." He leaned in and kissed him lightly. "I trust you."

Harry Potter led Draco Malfoy down the stairs to the Great Hall, where the first person that Draco saw was Theodore Nott chatting with Pansy Parkinson. Pulling his wand from his robes, Harry stalked up to Nott with such a furious expression on his face that the latter backed up a few feet with quite the alarmed appearance. Harry shoved his wand inches from the other's face.

"You are a fucking _git._" He ground out in a slow, threatening voice. At this point Blaise Zabini had gotten up and put a concerned hand on Harry's arm and was trying, unsuccessfully to pull the boy away from Nott.

"Potter, please." He said quietly. This only resulted in Harry turning on Blaise.

"YOU'RE NOT ANY BETTER!" He shouted. "YOU LET THEM TORTURE HIM FOR A WEEK!" Nott, feeling much more confident now that Harry was distracted, smirked over at Draco.

"I wondered where you went this morning. What did you do, go run crying to Potter?" Something inside the blonde snapped and, leaving his wand forgotten, he threw himself on top of Nott, punching every part of him he could reach.

The entire Great Hall paused to watch as the half the room was a mess of confused fighting.

"IF YOU SYMPOTHISED WITH HIM, WHY THE FUCKING HELL DID YOU LET HIM CRY FOR A WEEK?!"

"I BROUGHT HIM TO YOU LAST NIGHT!" Harry and Blaise were still shouting at each, looking as though they were to break into a fist fight at any time.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Draco was shouting as Nott was trying to defend his face from Draco's punches. "I'M A HUMAN BEING!" Draco was crying as Theodore, who finally recovered from the shock of Draco's attack, began hitting him in return.

"STOP!" someone shouted amongst the confusion. Whoever it was was ignored as Draco remembered his wand and started shouting hexes at the other boy as fast as they came to his mind. Poor Pansy Parkinson was his with a stray curse and one was only just dodged by Gregory Goyle.

"STUPEFY!" At first, everyone thought that the red beam of light was shot from Draco's wand, and it was a moment before the rest of the people in the hall understood that it was actually the blonde who had been hexed. Two more stunning spells were sent at Nott and Harry by a severely angered Professor Snape, whose mouth was stretched so thin he resembled McGonagall upon discovering the Harry and Ron had flown a car to school in their second year.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" He shouted. The entire hall went silent. "Detention will be given to all three four of you." His voice was deathly quiet. "Nott, Zabini, you'll be with me. Potter, Malfoy, McGonagall will handle. Never in all these years have I seen such a horrendous, unsophisticated act."

"But, Professor," Harry argued. "Professor, they've been..."

"Don't argue with me, Potter. Ten points will be taken from Gryffindor." He rounded on Draco, who was out of breath and busy wiping stray tears from his face, "And as for you, Mr. Malfoy. I expected better things from you than fighting with members of your own house." He spat. "I will be writing to your father tonight."

Snape turned and billowed out of the room and Harry glared at Theodore.

"You will give Draco his stuff back or I swear to fucking god I will make your life hell, do you understand me." Nott said nothing but stood, fists clenched, breathing hard and glaring at both Harry and Draco through a heavy noseblood.

"Sodding queers." He muttered. "Fine." He said coldly. "I'll give the fag his stuff back." The earned a heavy punch from Harry, a returned blow from Nott, and suddenly, the Slytherin was thrown back into the table, sending food and pumpkin juice everywhere. Harry was considerably stronger than the Slytherin and he was currently on top of him, breaking his shattered nose even more, getting blood all over his robes.

It wasn't until they were both stunned by a breathless Hermione Granger that Harry stopped.

"You are unbelievable, Harry." She breathed out. "Go, get yourself to the hospital wing." As Nott moved to follow she turned her wand on him. "Not you." She glared. "You deserved what you got." She looked so menacing with her hair a mess and the look of fury, Nott skulked off towards the loo, resolving to see Madam Pomfrey after Harry and Draco left.

Meanwhile, the couple, both bruised and bleeding were limping toward the infirmary, Harry still furious and Draco was a bit of a Triumphant stride.

"Did you see that Harry? I bloodied his nose." Harry's angry glare softened at this and he couldn't help a slight smile.

"Yes you did Draco. See, I told you you didn't have to take this shite." As Harry stopped to tie his shoe, Draco continued forward, contemplating this. He felt more confident about himself than he had in a long while.

He turned and, realising Harry was lagging behind, beckoned him forward with his finger. Harry approached. Draco smirked.

"I just made you come with one finger." His smirk grew. "Imagine what I could do with my entire body."

Harry grinned and pushed the blonde up against the stone wall, kissing him passionately.

But they both winced, having forgotten the injuries from the fight.

"Ow." Draco said with a bit of a laugh. "How bout we finish this after my nose is fixed?"

They made their way toward the Hospital Wing with a new purpose.

Harry Potter was indeed very curious to see just what Draco could do with that body of his.

**Okay, so, I've been getting less and less REVIEWs with each chapter and it's making me sad. =( Bring my happiness back?**

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**I'll bring a new chappie soon.**


	8. Mystery Solved

It was the following morning and Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, both severely bruised from the morning before, were regardless, in a very good temper. Ronald Weasley was sitting opposite the two alongside Hermione Granger, and the former was as of present, refusing to look either of them in the eye.

You see, he had been given a terrible shock when the two were not seen in classes, but turned up later in the Gryffindor common room, far sweatier and tousled as they should have been, had they come straight from the Hospital wing, as everyone would have thought they would. In fact, the blond was walking with a slight limp, and Ron had gotten the dreadful feeling that it had nothing to do with the days fighting.

Hermione had watched as Ron blanched. She herself had only smirked, upon realising that Harry had in fact figured out just what Draco could do with his entire body. Draco himself had found quite a few things about the boy beside him as well.

It was now breakfast time in the Great Hall, and to the slight discomfort of the Gryffindor table, the boys' escapades the previous morning had the two feeling rather more touchy feeling than normal. Harry dropped his spoon into has plate as Draco's hand ran up his thigh and Draco nearly squeaked when Harry, smirking, returned the favour.

Blushing and scooting closer to one another, the two only laughed when they were told by Ronald to "get a room". The redhead took it back right away though, deciding that the two may take his advice, and his mind, the two escapading again may put them in even more a lustful mood the next morning, and it wasn't something he wanted to deal with.

Draco Malfoy was in a particularly good mood because he had gotten more sleep the previous night than he'd had since his return to Hogwarts nearly a fortnight before. After having the shit near beaten out of him, he grudgingly returned both Draco's candle, and lion, though he did so while laughing. Draco punched him for this. With a piece of Harry to hold on to, with his roommates, two frightened of him to taunt, and without staying up half the night crying, Draco Malfoy had slept fairly well indeed.

Blaise Zabini stayed across the hall, appearing bashful, still ashamed of himself for allowing Draco to cry all those nights, and Seamus Finnegan, though still slightly disapproving of Draco, was far nicer to him.

It was Hermione who was first to notice the owl.

This was unusual, seeing as it wasn't a post day and it seemed to be headed directly for the young Malfoy's head.

"Dad." Draco whispered as the large bird landing in front of him and started pecking him furiously. Harry, alarmed, shoed it away and grabbed the letter clutched in its talon.

"Dray...?" he asked softly? The blonde had zoned out, seeming unable to sense his surroundings. "You alright, baby?" Draco nodded slowly and suddenly, a strength came across his face that Harry had never seen on him before.

"Let me see that." Draco took the envelope Harry was holding and as he was about to rip it open, Harry grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"Are you sure you want to read that in here?" He asked the boy softly. True, Harry had no idea what the letter might say, but he was almost certain it would not be pleasant, and he was unsure of what Draco's reaction would be.

Draco understood Harry's train of thought at once, and he was unsure of if he should be grateful or affronted for such. On the one hand, he realised Harry cared enough to know he wouldn't want to be embarrassed. But on the other, Draco's pride was disallowing him from not feeling offended on the realisation that his boyfriend was worried he'd cry, and he'd expected Harry to think more of him.

He thought for a moment, weighing the two reactions in his mind. Seeing as his recent track record was proving to him that Harry had every right to come to this conclusion, he smiled up at Harry in appreciation and, instead of arguing, though still sure he'd handle the letter fine, Draco stood up and allowed Harry to follow him into the hall. Just in case.

The moment the two were out of sight of the rest of the school, Draco ripped open the envelope and Harry watched him read it with bated breath. No amount of emotion showed on the Slytherin's face until he seemed to be about three quarters of the way down the page, in which he whispered

"That bastard." His eyes, now seeming slightly dead and hollowed read to the bottom, crumpled up the letter, and tossed it on the ground. Harry watched in slight concern as his boyfriend slid down the wall, knees to his chest, staring directly ahead.

True to his word, Draco was not crying.

Harry slid down beside him.

"What did it say?" He asked softly, deciding that it would be better for Draco to talk about it than for him to read the parchment himself.

"I'm not welcome back at home. Ever." He said quietly, and Harry understood that there was more. "I've been disowned." Harry was bemused.

"But... you left last summer. That's why you came to my house. Surely you saw it coming..." Draco nodded with a wry smile.

"Oh, I know." He said airily. "I'm glad for that part. It's..." He sighed and shook his head. "Mystery solved..." Harry, now more confused than ever, moved closer to the boy.

"What is it baby?" He whispered. Draco turned to him, an expression on his face that was combined fury and sadness.

"You remember why I'm afraid of the dark?" Feeling the pit of his stomach drop out, Harry nodded.

"Davie." Draco said softly. Harry didn't understand.

"Who?" The blonde stared at the stones in the castle wall, while at the same time, not seeming to really see them.

"When I was seven, I had a friend named Davie. A muggle boy. Father didn't like muggles, but he let me play with him." He paused, and looked at Harry with a meaningful expression. "Davie was the first boy I ever liked." Tears filled his eyes but he wiped them away. "He's dead now." He whispered. "Father had told me it was an accident that did it." He shook his head. "Fucking arse."

Harry was afraid to ask, so he allowed Draco to continue.

"He died the same week they put me in that cave. I never put it together before now. Father has so kindly told me that he'd seen since I was seven that I was fag, and that he'd tried to take care of the problem then. The same why he'd rid the world of Davie. But I'd lived. And now I'm poisoning the Hogwarts halls with my abnormality and now that everyone knows, he won't be having me in his house."

"Oh, Draco, I'm so sorry." Harry whispered, pulling the blonde into his arms. Draco stared blankly for a moment and allowed Harry to hold him.

"I'm fine." He said quietly. "Really. I think I knew all along..." Harry knew that Draco wasn't fine. But he'd expected as much. The Slytherin stood.

"Shall we go to class, Harry?" He was shaking slightly, but he seemed okay enough to not worry Harry too much.

So the dark haired Gryffindor followed his boyfriend to class.

*

Hours later, while Draco was lying in his bed, staring at the flickering light of the candle above her, he thought of the young boy who he'd thought he'd loved.

"_I don't know what's wrong with me, Davie." Draco whispered. The brown eyed boy smiled, his front teeth missing. _

"_There's nothing wrong with you, Draco. My mum says it's normal." Draco looked at him, with awe in his eyes. _

"_You've told your mum you like boys?" The admiration in his voice made the other child laugh. _

"_Yeah." He said simply. "We're not the only ones, Draco. You like me, don't you?" Draco nodded. The two were in the park, swinging. _

"_I don't think my mum and dad would be too happy..." he said quietly. "I've always thought I was just a freak." Davie got off his swing. _

"_You're not a freak." He said. "You're just... special." He gave the other boy a toothless grin, and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek. _

"_Draco." A cold voice called from the other end of the playground, and Draco shivered. His dad was standing, watching them. The fury in his eyes frightened him. "Say goodbye to your friend. It's time to go home. We're taking a little... trip... in the morning." _

"_Okay daddy." He said timidly. "Bye Davie," he waved. He followed the man, obliviously wondering where they might be going in the morning. _

Draco, crying slightly, pulled back his curtains and gazed around the Slytherin common room. He felt sick. Sick of all of it. All of them.

It was green. The whole room was green, just like his father's study. Just like the curse that had killed Davie. And then there was Nott. So like Draco's father... He glanced up at the candle, the light and warmth so out of place in such a heartless place. Damp. Cold. Hard. Like the cave. And he was unwelcome here as he was a home. Wiping his face and determined not to cry, he grabbed the lion and took the candle from its bracket.

*

Harry was awaked at one thirty in the morning by a blonde sixteen-year-old boy standing at his bedside with a candle and I stuffed lion.

"I thought I'd sleep in here tonight." He said simply, his voice shaking ever so slight. "To spite my dad." Harry, smart enough to understand that this was not the real reason that Draco was here, slid over and allowed the boy to crawl in beside him.

Draco buried his face in Harry's chest, feeling the anxiety lessen in his stomach. He was safe here. Welcome here.

"I can't go back to that dungeon." He whispered. "I can't handle it down there anymore."

Harry stroked his hair sleepily.

"We'll talk to Dumbledore in the morning."

**We are nearing the end my friends. One or two chapters left. REVIEW. Please? Don't make me beg, I WILL do it. **


	9. Proud

Dumbledore looked up from the letter he was writing at the sound of a soft knock at the door and quiet arguing from the other side of the wall.

"Harry I don't wanna do this anymore. He's got better things to be doing." Said a harsh whisper.

"Dray, don't be stupid. I've come to see Dumbledore loads of times."

"But Harry..."

"Draco – " Harry was interrupted in his answer by the door being opened.

"Ah, Harry, Mr. Malfoy. Come on in." Harry moved to enter the office and turned with an exasperated expression when Draco stayed where he was, looking nervous.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake Dray." Harry grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him in with him, giving him a reprimanding look. "Stop being pathetic." Draco scowled.

"I am _not _being pathetic." Harry laughed at the pouty expression his boyfriend was making.

"Sure you're not. Sit down." Dumbledore took his place behind his desk and looked at the couple with an amused expression.

"What seems to be the problem, boys? Oh, and, might I add, congratulations." He winked, making the both of them blush. "Never have I thought two less likely people to wind up together. Well, aside from... never the matter. What brings you here?" Harry looked pointedly at Draco who seemed very interested in the pattern of the rug at his feet.

"Draco?" The blonde's head snapped up.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes." Harry said shortly. "You came into my room upset again last nigh-"

"I was _not_." Draco's protests were cut off by a look from Harry, who finished his sentence.

"You came into my room upset again last night and it's not healthy nor okay. You were the one who said you couldn't stand it down there anymore and you're going to be the one to ask." Draco stared at his hands.

"Idon'twannabeaSlytherinanymore." He mumbled. Dumbledore seemed to catch it.

"Ah, and, why is that, Mr. Malfoy. May I say, that I cannot simply move students into the house of their boyfriend or girlfriend for the sake of love." Draco shook his head.

"That's not it... I..." Realising that Draco wasn't going to say it, Harry answered this for him.

"They've been tormenting him, professor." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"Mr. Malfoy, is this true?" Draco reddened.

"Yes, sir."

"He's been coming into my room crying at night. I want him out of there." Draco blushed even harder at this and gave half a glare at Harry whom he thought was being rather tactless in admitting to – in his mind a stranger – that he'd been being so weak.

"Mr. Malfoy?" Draco was now paying rapt attention to the shelves on the office walls. "Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes." He said with an air of exasperations. "Yes, it's true, okay? I'm just that pathetic." Harry Potter rolled his eyes and put an arm around the blonde's shoulders.

"You're not pathetic, baby." Draco only pouted.

"Draco, why haven't you told anyone if your roommates have been treating you like this?" The Slytherin shrugged, staring once again at the floor.

"IthoughtIcouldhandleit..." He mumbled quickly. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Oh, yeah. Where have we heard _that _before, Draco?" The blonde glared at his boyfriend for a moment.

"Would you like to move houses Draco?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright then, Mr. Malfoy. You understand that your schedule will change?" Draco nodded.

"Please."

"Okay. Harry, I expect you to assist Draco in moving his belongings from the dungeons to Gryffindor tower." A grin spread across Draco's face.

"Thank you, professor." Dumbledore smiled and nodded. Harry grabbed Draco's hand and they moved to leave.

"Uh, boys," he called. "Behave yourselves." He said with a wink, causing both boys to blush deeply and stammer incoherently until Dumbledore, appearing amused, shooed them from his office.

When Seamus Finnegan entered Gryffindor tower later that night he discovered Harry Potter lugging a large pile of clothing up to their dorm.

"Uh..." he asked, confused. "Go shopping, Harry?"

When, at the sound of footsteps, he turned around to see a blonde-haired teenager sauntering down the stairs, his confusion only increased.

"Draco switched houses" Harry said with a grin.

"Uh..." Seamus was unsure how to react. He wasn't necessarily happy that the blonde was moving in, but he still remembered Draco crying a few days before. So Seamus forced a smile.

"Great." Draco paused in the stairwell, staring at Seamus, his expression becoming worried.

"Look," Harry said angrily, "I don't care if you don't like him. He's my boyfriend, and he's a Gryffindor now." Draco glanced down at the red and orange tie he was wearing. His heart leaped a little. He was really out of there... He watched Seamus with apprehension.

"I... fine. But if he says one word..." Seamus trailed off. "I have a hard time believing he'd change himself that completely." He said shortly, as though Draco weren't there.

"I haven't." Draco told him from the stairs, causing Seamus to wheel around. "This is the real me." He said definitively. He crossed around Draco behind Harry, wrapping his arms around his waist. Seamus still appeared unsure. "I can't stay down there..." he trailed off. "I can transfer to Ravenclaw if you don't want me here." He felt like crying.

"No..." Now the Irishman looked uncomfortable. "No... don't do that." He sighed. "Alright, fine. I guess if Harry trusts you..." A smile lit Draco's face. "Thank you!" Seamus returned his thanks with a half-hearted smile.

"Come on, Dray." Harry said, stepping in, "let's get the rest of your stuff upstairs. Merlin, you've got too much crap." Draco smiled. "I know, but you love me."

"I do." Harry said with a smile. And together, they moved Draco in.

A few hours later, when Draco had officially moved all of his possessions to the Gryffindor dorm, Hermione was walking past a group of Slytherins in a corridor outside the Great Hall.

"He's actually _moved out_?" One of them was saying. Hermione paused. They were talking about Draco. She ducked around a corner to listen.

"Yeah!" Whoever was talking was clearly amused. "He grabbed his stuff and left. He's actually moved to Gryffindor now." Hermione could hear sniggering from around the wall. She glared, anger flooding her.

"This is great." Someone said animatedly. They snorted. "He's a pouf, a_nd_ a Gryffindor now." The others laughed alongside her. "It's like another Potter." A sick feeling settled in Hermione's stomach now. Draco left the Slytherin common rooms to get away from the teasing...

"It's not funny." Someone around the corner had spoken loudly, voicing Hermione's thoughts. She poked her head around to see who. Blaise Zabini was glaring at the lot of them. "You tormented him to the point where he had to leave his own room." He was answered by a handful of glares, and one or two looks of shame.

"He's a bloody pouf, Zabini. What do you care?" Blaise glared.

"It's doesn't matter. You've know Draco for years. You all have. Just because he's gay, you're suddenly torturing him to the point where he's in tears every night." An older Slytherin, in what Hermione assumed to be 7th year punched Zabini to the floor, and was a second later stunned by Hermione's own spell. She left her hiding place to stand, glaring, in front of the group of surprised Slytherins.

"You all sicken me." She told them in a voice that was so quiet it could be considered deadly. She helped Blaise to his feet. "You touch him again, I will hex you all until you cannot walk." She drug Blaise with her around the corner. He seemed surprised to say the least.

"Er... Thanks...." It was an awkward statement.

"You're welcome." Hermione answered resolutely and continued to walk straight ahead, with an unnecessary force in her step. "Bastards." She muttered. And then she stopped in her tracks, causing the darker boy to nearly run headlong into her.

"Why _do _you care?" she asked Blaise, accusations dripping through her tone. "What does Draco matter to you?" The Slytherin only shrugged.

"I just don't see a point in attacking him. He's always been a good friend to me." Hermione opened her mouth to speak. "No, I'm not gay." He said, answering her question before she'd even asked it. "I just see a problem with him being." She stared at him silently, trying to make sure he was being truthful. Determining that he was, she walked on, saying nothing. The thoughts in her mind were not pleasant ones. Dinner tonight was not likely to be enjoyable.

Harry walked into the Great Hall hand in hand with Draco, now with both of them wearing matching Gryffindor ties. They were met immediately by applause and cheers from the Slytherin table at the far end of the room. The only ones who didn't seem to be cheering were Blaise, who was scowling and looking uncomfortable, and Pansy Parkinson, who was too busy pouting much to care.

The smile that had been on Draco's face vanished.

"Oh, look, it's the Gryffindor." Someone said mockingly, across the room. Harry couldn't make them out through the crowd. "Please come back Malfoy," they pleaded dramatically. "We miss you _oh _so much!" They faked tears.

Draco, who was near real tears himself, was holding tightly to Harry's hand, reminding himself that no matter how cruel this lot may be, he didn't have to sleep with them. He felt Harry practically growling beside him.

"Fags!" Someone shot out. "You've lost any dignity you might've had left now. You're worse than Weasley." Ron stood up, wand clenched in hand.

"You're the pathetic one." Draco said much more calmly than he felt in the direction of the table. His eyes were blurred, but he wasn't crying. He wouldn't give them that.

"You're the bloody pouf!" this response was met by an entourage of agreeing voices and an even louder uprising from the remainder of the Great Hall.

"SILENCE!" The hall fell deathly quiet as the students looked to Professor Dumbledore standing at the head of the Staff table, looking furious. Draco shrank back, feeling that this was somehow his fault.

"This is not," he said in a tone that sent shivers into many of the students, "something that I will tolerate in my school. Mr. Malfoy has decided to change houses for reasons that are confidential between him and myself." Draco buried his face in Harry's shoulder. "This school is based on acceptance and unity." Dumbledore chanted angrily. "If I hear of any further slurs on not just Mr. Malfoy, but _any _student based on race, blood status, or sexual preference, the one who slipped it out will serve two weeks detention with myself. Do I make myself clear?"

The hall remained silent. The Slytherins sat down and stared at their plates.

Draco followed Harry to the table and sat down beside him, returning his face to Harry's sweater, feeling quite possibly more embarrassed than he'd ever felt in his life. He just wanted to go bed.

"Don't listen to them, Draco." Hermione spoke across the table, softly. Draco seemed to be the only one in the Gryffindor house not to notice that he was shaking rather badly.

"Of course not." He snapped. "I don't. I'm fine." She sighed and turned back to Ron. Harry tightened his grip around his boyfriend's shoulders.

"Why don't we head upstairs to bed, okay?" He asked him, for which Draco was immensely grateful. He quickly followed the darker haired boy upstairs.

Draco had begun changing into his pyjamas when Harry spoke to him with a sigh.

"Dray..." he said quietly. "Are you sure you're alright? You're shaking." Looking down at the trembling fingers that were trying to button his shirt, he realised that Harry was right.

"I-it's nothing. I'm fine." He stumbled over his words and Harry, clearly not believing him, approached him, placing his hands over Draco's shaking ones, and guided the Draco's fingers through the process of pushing each button through its hole. And then Harry's bright green eyes found Draco's grey ones. And soft lips met ones that were chapped from constantly being bitten in anxiety.

"It's not fine." Harry whispered between kisses. "But it will be." He felt Draco's lips tremble beneath his. "I promise."

And then Harry took the candle from Draco's trunk, placing it lightly in the holder over what was now Draco's four-poster and lit it with his wand.

"Lay down." He instructed the blonde, who was now in silent tears. Draco started to protest.

"Lay down." Harry repeated. Draco wiped at his face and did as he was told, grabbing the lion in the process. Harry sat down on the bed beside Draco and gently rubbed his back.

"I'm proud of you, you know?" He said in a comforting tone. "You've been through a lot since school started and you handled it well..." He heard the boy on the bed snort disbelievingly. "You have," Harry continued. "You could've gone and done something stupid to yourself..."

"I wasn't going to..." Draco began and trailed off.

"But you thought about it." Harry countered gently, now wiping at Draco's cheeks. "I know you did. But you didn't do anything." Draco sniffed. "And for that, I'm proud. You're stronger than you think Draco. You're gonna be fine."

"My father..." He whispered.

"You won't be going back to your father's house." Harry said shortly. "I'll make sure of it."

"Thanks..." Draco sounded far away. He'd stopped crying and was starting to fall asleep.

"I'm glad you woke me up that night, Draco." He said softly as the boy's eyes closed. He gave the blonde one last kiss on the head before closing his hangings and climbing into his own.

Draco was going to be fine.

**I AM SOOOOO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE!!!! **

**I lost my motivation halfway through writing this chapter for some reason. I've been working on another story on called See No Evil, Taste No Sin, which is about a gay kid in a small, religious community who falls in love with the preachers son. If anyone wants to check it out, i have the same pen name on that website. So anyway, I've been distracted.**

**I PROMISE I WON'T TAKE SO LONG TO UPDATE AGAIN!**

**PLEASEEEE REVIEW. I know I don't deserve them now, but please? The next chapter should be the last. I'm just about done with the this fic. **


	10. Coma Patient

I know a lot of you have been reading this and I appreciate this very much. With my last post I said I wouldn't take months to update, but very unfortunate recent circumstances have come into play. On Thursday, one of my very best friends went into full cardiac arrest. They're only giving her a 50% chance at living, there's a slim chance she'll come out of the coma, and if she does, she'll be paralysed and likely a vegetable.

Needless, to say, I have a lot on my mind right now. I will update when I can, but for now, I'm postponing this story.

Thank you for your understanding,

xForeversEndx


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